Kentucky's success this season could very well depend on how well the passing game improves. UK's passing attack was ranked last in the SEC last season. New receivers coach Tee Martin looks to add depth to the wide receiver position that includes playmakers Randall Cobb and Chris Matthews. Brett Dawson talks about the wide receivers in his latest article for the Courier Journal.
Here are a few excerpts.
As the Wildcats try to improve a passing game that was the worst in the Southeastern Conference last season, they're seeking players beyond Cobb and Matthews — a duo UK expects to be dynamic — who can make big plays.
If preseason practices are any indication, there are plenty of candidates, but little consistency.
Click read more to see who the Cats hope will step up this season.
Sophomore La'Rod King flashed big-play potential late last season, finishing his freshman year with 10 catches for 142 yards and a touchdown. But he's been sidelined for part of the preseason with a stinger.
Another sophomore, E.J. Fields, has a burst of speed that could prove crucial to a team looking for more deep threats. He caught a 21-yard touchdown pass in UK's Blue-White spring game. But Fields has yet to play in a regular-season game. He redshirted in 2008 and missed all of 2009 with a foot injury.
They are just two players on a list of wide-receiver contenders — Aaron Boyd, Matt Roark, Michael Harper and Brian Adams — who have been praised for their talent but have yet to produce.
Adams didn't practice until the spring, when he also played in the outfield for the Cats' baseball team. He's missed some time this preseason with a groin injury, further hindering his development
That's been a disappointment to a coaching staff that was hoping Adams — a fast, physical wideout who caught a 54-yard touchdown pass during one spring scrimmage — might develop into a downfield threat.
“The last couple years, that's been our nemesis,” head coach Joker Phillips said. “We can't get down the field. Brian Adams has been down the field; he just hasn't come up with the plays. We've (told him), if you want to play in this league — with the type of speed that he has — you've got to make plays down the field.”
The Cats were relying on Gene McCaskill to develop into a third playmaker, but a knee injury suffered in practice will force him to sit out his junior season.
That leaves a void Phillips and Martin hope King, Fields, Adams or someone else can fill.
“If I'm a defense, I'm going to roll coverages to Randall Cobb, and the way Matthews is playing, I'd roll them to him,” Phillips said. “So that leaves the third guy open, and that third guy's got to get open when we need him. So many times, that guy's not stepping up for us.”
